Keeping up with Cassini

In case you missed it, scientists recently announced that the Cassini mission has confirmed the existence of a previously unseen moon hidden in the gap between one of Saturn's outer rings. We already knew of another moon, Pan, which orbits in one of Saturn's other ring gaps, the Encke Gap. The new moon, provisionally named S/2005 S1 -- presumably until the scientists all arm-wrestle to find out who gets to name it for real -- is orbiting in the Keeler Gap.

Imaging scientists had predicted the new moon's presence and its orbital distance from Saturn after last July's sighting of a set of peculiar spiky and wispy features in the Keeler gap's outer edge. The similarities of the Keeler gap features to those noted in Saturn's F ring and the Encke gap led imaging scientists to conclude that a small body, a few kilometers across, was lurking in the center of the Keeler gap, awaiting discovery.

You can visit the link for more details. I just wanted a chance to post the cool picture of the new moon. It's the teeny-tiny white object picture in the center of the black stripe, which is the Keeler Gap. You can visit the link above for bigger photos.